On Tuesday, December 16, the second Rudra kill party emerged in “Sanctuary,” the final raid of Season 1 in AION 2. It was a force that included Posher from Israphel. This clear force was formed by users gathered from multiple servers—Israphel, Zikel, Beritra, and more—and Posher, in particular, played a key role in the strategy through meticulous VOD analysis and mechanic callouts.

We spoke with them about the process behind their challenge—an emotional final attempt under a punishing time limit that ended in dramatic success—and the core points of the Rudra strategy.

Hello! Could you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

Posher: Hi. I’m Posher, and I stream various RPGs on CHZZK. In AION 2, I play the Spiritmaster character “Syeo” on Israphel.

You achieved the Korean server’s second Rudra clear. How do you feel?

Posher: For Rudra in Sanctuary right now, you can attempt it twice a week, and there’s a time limit. At the time of our clear, the time limit was 40 minutes + 40 minutes. The attempt we cleared on was our last try, with 11 minutes remaining. If that pull had failed, at best we would’ve gotten one more pull—or we might not have been able to attempt again at all. We were truly desperate, so clearing it let us finally breathe a sigh of relief.

You were progressing after news of the first clear had already come out — how was that psychologically? Did you feel pressured to clear quickly, or did it make things easier?

Posher: I did want the Korean server’s second clear, and I also wanted the Asmodian-side first clear. But because opportunities are limited, we couldn’t just say, “Let’s just send it.” So I thoroughly pre-studied by watching the clear video from “Ure”’s raid group on the Siel server. (For both Artifact War and Rudra, I learn a ton from the Siel players, including Ure.) If there hadn’t been a first-clear video, I think getting the second clear would’ve been extremely difficult.

When we cleared, all I could think was, “Thank goodness we cleared it this week.” Right after the clear, I heard on my live broadcast that a nerf would be coming the very next week, and we all agreed among ourselves that it was a relief to clear before the nerf.

Watching the first-clear party, was there anything that made you think, “We should approach this differently”?

Posher: Rudra’s patterns are fairly intuitive overall, so we referenced Ure’s raid group’s solutions and approached most things similarly. That said, for the so-called “Bingo pattern” that appears around 50% and 25% HP, we handled it differently based on the data we collected. We had all eight people each take responsibility for one of the eight zones, then filled it by completing the outer four tiles first and finishing with the final inner tile. Doing it that way was great because it almost completely eliminated accidents.

As you analyzed your own Rudra progression footage, what points felt most important?

Posher: I think there were three big ones.

1. The healer must not die.

2. You must not assign mechanics to the healer.

3. Ranged DPS need to spread out so their ground AoEs don’t overlap.

▲ The “Bingo pattern,” which Posher says they handled differently from the first-clear group

You’ve consistently put up strong results across multiple RPGs. What’s your secret to adapting well even when the game changes?

Posher: There are a lot of people who are far better than me mechanically. I just try to gather as much information as possible and do my own feedback and self-review as much as I can. That’s probably why I’m able to perform above average.

If you had to highlight one force member who impressed you with their play or decision-making, who would it be?

Posher: Rather than picking just one, the three melee players (Jiwudau, Jjonji, Chongdok) and the two Clerics (Myeongui, Kkamkkam) really went through a lot. I’m ranged, so I was able to raid relatively comfortably, but for melee it’s hard even to read the tells, and they really suffered. And for Clerics, since they can’t self-resurrect, the pressure on them was enormous.

For Spiritmaster players, what’s the single most important point you want to emphasize in Sanctuary?

Posher: Rudra isn’t a raid where you fail because of insufficient damage, so survival is the most important thing. If you save Drain and use it to refill your HP when you’re in danger, your survivability goes up a lot.

In Sanctuary progression right now, many players believe Extended Weapons are the correct choice over crafted weapons. From your Rudra-clear perspective, what criteria should people use when choosing a weapon?

Posher: I don’t main a melee DPS, but given the nature of the raid, I think melee DPS should be using an Extended Weapon (a weapon with the extended-range option). For ranged DPS, the advantage of range is smaller, so if you’re thinking purely about DPS, a Dark Dragon King (Light Dragon King) weapon is better.

That said, if your resources are limited even as a ranged DPS, using an Extended Weapon and investing what you saved into your Guarder/accessories/Ariel Daevanion can still be a perfectly solid choice. Right now, [Extended Weapon + crafted Guarder + crafted ring (+ earrings) + Nuakum armor + Kromede earrings/necklace + Ariel Daevanion] is a safe, all-around setup.

▲ “Po-shicial” verdict) Melee should run an Extended Weapon. Even ranged should consider it if you care about cost-efficiency.

For mid-to-upper-tier players currently preparing to challenge Sanctuary, what’s one thing you’d say they absolutely must prepare?

Posher: Because Sanctuary raids have limited attempt opportunities, those two entries are unbelievably valuable. The most important thing is watching multiple guide videos beforehand.

Having progressed and cleared Rudra yourself, what’s your evaluation of Season 1’s final raid?

Posher: The combat tempo is very fast, and each individual pattern is powerful, so it feels tense—in a good way—and it was fun. The Bingo pattern also requires full eight-person coordination, which really adds that “this is what an 8-man raid is about” feeling.

That said, it was disappointing how sharply melee DPS difficulty spikes from Phase 2 onward, and how heavy the burden becomes on Clerics because of resurrection responsibilities.

Looking back across Season 1 overall, what content do you think AION 2 did best?

Posher: For PvE, I think Fire Temple was made extremely well. For PvP, it’s probably the Artifact Conquest War.

▲ Posher’s Season 1 best picks: Fire Temple and Artifact Conquest War

Is there anything in AION 2 you feel is lacking and needs improvement?

Posher: Honestly, early on I thought it was a game with a lot that needed improvement. But I was surprised because every time I streamed, they kept improving things I thought were necessary. They identify problematic areas through Q&A, and for serious issues they’ve even done hotfixes without waiting for scheduled update dates.

Right now, the thing that needs improvement is that once your Abyss Ranking gets high, the benefits are too small. There are some benefits, but I feel like the downsides are actually bigger. (The amount of Abyss Points you lose, and the Abyss Points gain buffs.)

After defeating Rudra, have you set any new goals?

Posher: Because I started at a slower pace at launch, I couldn’t go for an early first-clear attempt. And since there are titles for it, it feels really disappointing. For newly patched content, I want to get a first clear.

Now that Season 1 is over, what are you looking forward to in Season 2?

Posher: To be honest, I’m more excited about what AION 2 becomes after this point than where it is right now. In just five weeks, so many things have improved in a positive direction. Given the game’s fun factor and how well it’s being operated, I’m genuinely looking forward to Season 2 itself.

Finally, could you say a word to the force members who challenged this with you, and to the users who cheered you on?

Posher: Because our attempts were limited, the mood got more and more tense as time ran down, but the force members who stayed focused to the very end (Jjonji, Jiwudau, Ilhye, Go, Chongdok, Kkamkkam, Myeongui) truly worked incredibly hard. And thank you as well to all the users who supported us and congratulated us.

This article was translated from the original that appeared on INVEN.